Improvement in handles for millstone-picks



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

Anson RowE, or ATALIssA, IOWA.

HMPROVEMENT IN HANoLEs Fora MILLsToNE-PICKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,170, dated Augustl2, 1862.

To all whom it may conc-ern: l

Beit known that I, ANsoN ROWE, of Atalissa, in the county of Muscatineand State of- This invention relates to an improvement in the ordinarypick-handle, which consists of a piece of hard Wood turned at one end soas to be readily grasped and held by the operator and having itsopposite end comparatively large in diameter, so as to form a hub orhead, in which a taper hole is mortised to receive either end of thepick, which is of double-taper form. In this arrangement the pick isonly secured lirmly in its handle when the taper of the formercorresponds with the taper of the mortise in the latter, and as thepicks are all forged by hand without the aid of gages or other means todetermine their proportions or shape it follows as a matter of coursethat they will vary materially in form, and hence but few fit properlythe mortise in the handle or stock.

The object of this invention is to obviate the difficulty abovespecified; and vto .this end I construct the hub or head of the handleor stock with an adjustable key or block, so arranged that the Inortiseor aperature which receives the pick may, Without any specialmanipulation on the part of the operator, be

adapted to suit thepreeise form of the pick,

andl thereby cause the same to be firmly secured in the handle or stock.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the handle or stock ofthe pick, having one part, a, turned,as usual, of l a proper size to be readily grasped and held by theoperator, and having a hub or head, b, at its opposite end considerablylarger in diameter than a. The outer part of the hub or head b isslotted longitudinally a certain distance, as'shown at c, and the backedge of this slot is inclined, as shown` at d in Fig. 1. In the frontpart of this slot c there is fitted a key or block, B, and secured by apin, e, which passes transversely through the hub or head b, and onwhich pin the key or block B is allowed to turn freely. The principalportion of the inner surface of this key or block B is a plane, as shownat f in Fig. 1, and the'upper and lower parts may be slightly beveled orformed of short planes g g, having an oblique position with f. The keyor block B does not eX- tend back to the inclined edge d of the slot c,a space being allowed between them to receive the pick, as will be seenin Fig. 1, in which the pick is shown in red outline. By thisarrangement it will be seen that when the pick is inserted in the spacebetween the key or block B and the back inclined edge, d, of the slot cthe key or block will, in consequence of turning on the pin e, adjustitself tothe pick whether the same have a greater or less taper and thelatter be firmly secured inthe handle or stock, the inclined back edge,d, of the slot c giving the pick the proper inclination. Thus by thissimple means the difficulty attending the ordinary pick handle or stockis fully obviated and much embarrassment avoided, as the picks areveryliable to fall from the ordinary handle, and if they strike theInillstone angularly the corners of the pick are4 liable to break.

ANSON ROWE.

Witnesses:

ROBERT T. THOMPSON, LEONARD LAME.

